(BCL) Ltd. has reported net earnings of $2,292,000 ($7.64 a share) to December 31, the best bottom line result since 1989.

The company said in its just-released annual report that 1994 marked 15 years of service to the community, and, it is the year the company returned to "reasonable profitability and strong financial health''. The largest contribution (56 percent) was the one-off sale of the Hibiscus for $1,285,500.

Earnings from continuing operations were described as "more mode s t'' at $1,006,500, but still better than the last three years. The company lost more than $1.8 and $1.5 million, respectively in 1991 and 1992. Still, $523,852 of the roughly million dollars in earnings from continuing operations came from BCL's share of earnings from Somers Isles Shipping Ltd., with the remaining $482,747 listed as operating earnings. Dividends were reinstituted after a three year suspension. A sum of $450,000 was allocated. The previous year saw an operating loss of $288,507 and the 1994 improvement was attributed to a 6.36 percent increase in freight revenue, as expenses were held to the previous year's level. Freight volume actually declined by 1.84 percent, but this was offset by the change in the mix of cargo. The volume decline was all in low revenue cargo while the volume of high revenue cargo increased.

Even with a freight rate increase that was introduced at the beginning of 1994, the firm said that the average revenue earned per container was still below the figure of 1985. Port costs, fuel expense, claims, interest, operating costs of the Oleander all decreased while stevedoring and cargo handling, equipment costs and general expenses increased. Severe winter storms in the US Northeast at the beginning of the year were followed Oleander , and its replacement by a less suitable ship.

The difficulties over the first four months cost the firm an additional $200,000, mostly in overtime, standby and cargo lashing costs.

The firm noted that despite the overall improvement, $482,500 only represents a return of four percent on the $12-million investment in operating assets, and further improvements were needed. Early last year, BCL introduced an early payment discount in a successful effort to improve cash flow. As a result, year end accounts receivable were below a million dollars for the first time since 1981. The company said that the benefits in cash flow and customer satisfaction more than offset the $300,000 in foregone revenue.

The positive cash flow of $3,000,000 helped the company pay all the deferred loan payments, regularly scheduled loan payments for the fiscal year and pre-payments on the loan. Shareholders' equity jumped to $13,760,000 while liabilities decreased by 59 percent to $2,920,000 leading to a healthy debt ratio of 1:5. Assets were reduced from $19,006,299 (1993) to $16,681,536 (1994).